Rebirth
by OodHappenings
Summary: 10 Years after the COE incident, Torchwood once again calls upon Captain Jack Harkness to save the earth. The enemy? A Rogue division of UNIT. The Mission? To prevent the divergence of space time at all costs. No matter how personal.
1. Chapter 1

Jack Harkness sat at the bar of a tiny pub in Cardiff. The air smelled of piss and smoke and stale beer. Jack grimaced as he felt something warm slosh onto his lap from the overzealous man next to him, waving his pint and slurring through a horrendously out of sync set of rounds.

Jack waved down the bartender.

"Excuse me! Napkin?"

She threw him a stack of paper napkins. Jack dabbed at the large wet spot on his jeans.

He heard laughter behind him.

He swivelled on his chair around to see a young woman smiling at him, her arms crossed loosely in front of her.

"Can I help you?"

She nodded.

"Are you Captain Harkness?" Her Welsh Accent was thick and dripped with false civility.

Jack sighed.

"Let me guess. I slept with your boyfriend, girlfriend, brother, uncle, husband or something?"

The woman smiled tightly.

"My father, actually. But that's not why I'm here."

Jack inhaled sharply.

"Father huh? Damn I'm getting old."

Jack spun back around to the bar and downed the rest of his whiskey.

"So why are you here?" He let the exhaustion he felt ooze into his voice. He didn't have the energy to be charming.

The woman leaned against the bar and waved a twenty at the bartender.

"Two whiskeys. Neat."

The bartender nodded.

"I'm here, sir, to offer you work."

Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose.

" Are you with UNIT?"

The woman laughed. It was bitter, and it caught Jack's attention.

"God no. Do I look like UNIT?"

Jack looked her over. Her loose fitting black coat, white shirt, and tight jeans screamed forced casual, but the way her dark curly hair sat in a messy bun on her head, and the relaxed manner she approached him was the polar opposite of what he was used to from a UNIT officer.

"No. You don't look like a civilian either."

"Good catch."

The bartender sat the two glasses on her bar in front of the woman. She slid one over to Jack and downed the other one in one go.

"Not a casual drinker either." Jack chuckled.

She winked at Jack.

"I learned from the best. "

That was unsettling. Jack got the feeling that she knew him. Not just as a story or name in a folder, but as a person.

"So what is this work."

The woman bristled, but kept her smile firmly in place.

"Straight to business then? No introductions. No awkward attempts at flirting. Where is that Harkness Charm I've heard so much about?"

Jack sipped his whiskey.

"I'm afraid you caught me on a bad day. Try again later, I'm sure I'll be more charming." Jack stood, slamming a wad of bills on the counter before storming the door.

The woman followed him out.

"Captain Harkness."

No response.

"Captain Harkness!"

Jack's pace quickened. The woman struggled to keep up with him.

"Jack!"

Jack stopped abruptly, the woman nearly running into him. He spun around.

"Can't you take a hint?"

The woman sighed.

"Jack. This job. It's not something we can ignore."

Jack scoffed.

"Really? Because I can say from many years experience that if you ignore something, it'll go away eventually." He tried to turn away.

She grabbed his arm tightly.

"Jack. I wasn't sent here to get no for an answer. "

Jack stepped back, drawing back his coat and placing a hand on the gun strapped to his hip.

"Are you threatening me?"

The woman rolled her eyes and held up her hands in mock surrender.

"I'm not threatening you. But I am warning you. If you don't work with me, there is a good chance that this-" She gestured to the quiet night streets of Cardiff. "could very well be the last good night on Earth."

Jack's hand flexed on the gun in its holster. A group of drunks poured out of a pub, laughing and falling against each other. Jack quickly concealed his gun with his coat.

"Who are you? Who are you with? What do you want?" He fervently whispered.

"My names is Tanwyn Jones. I was sent here by Torchwood -"

Jack laughed.

"No way in hell. I disbanded Torchwood years ago. If this is some sort of -"

"Hey!" A shout from behind them.

Tanwyn spun around. A pair of cops were sprinting toward them. The bartender stood in the distance.

"That's them!."

Tanwyn grimaced.

She grabbed Jacks hand and took off sprinting down the street, the late night roads providing little cover or distraction. The shrill whistles and shouts from the officers behind them were constant.

Tanwyn pulled up her sleeve.

Jack glanced over to see her punching code into a fresh Vortex manipulator.

"Where the fuck did you get that?"

She ignored him.

"Here!"

She grabbed his arm and yanked him into a side alley. She dove into the white portal and pulled Jack behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

They fell in a crumpled heap onto the immaculate lawn of a small country home.

Tanwyn was the first one up, brushing grass and dirt off of her coat.

Jack scrambled up and grabbed her arm.

"Look lady. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Tanwyn walked up to the porch and pulled a key from atop the door frame.

"I know you have questions Jack. And I will answer as many as I can. But first, let's get inside."

Jack followed her into the house. The place looked cozy. It had the clutter and smell of a lived in home, but was somehow missing anything that would make it seem personal. Jack noticed no photos on the walls or tables.

He followed Tanwyn into the kitchen.

"Is this your house?"

Tanwyn laughed. It sounded tired.

"No. This is a Torchwood Temporal Safehouse."

Jack nodded.

"Temporal Safehouse. That's good. Who came up with that one?"

"My father."

Jack flinched.

Tanwyn began brewing a pot of coffee.

" I came here direct from 2009. I found a much more provocative Jack Harkness there. But the date was wrong. "

"I don't remember that."

That's because I didn't look like this." She leaned against the counter and ran her fingers under the edge of her hair , peeling off the wig she had been wearing. Close cropped brown hair laid mussed underneath. Jack vaguely remembered her then.

"Wait, weren't you the The Pizza girl? The one from New York? "

She nodded.

"Yes sir! And thank you for ordering Dominos. Can i get you anything else?" Her Thick Welsh accent disappeared, replaced with an overly friendly American one.

Jack chuckled. He slid into the breakfast nook.

"Well I'll be a son of a bitch."

Tanwyn smiled. The Coffee maker gurgled out the last few drops of coffee. She grabbed two mugs from the cupboard.

"I do a mean American Accent when I want to." Her Welsh accent was back, but less exaggerated. She sounded like someone familiar. Someone Jack could almost place.

"I'll say. Also 2 sugar-"

"No cream. And a cinnamon stick. Got it."

Jack leaned his elbows against the table.

"You really are Torchwood then."

Tanwyn nodded. She slid into the booth across from Jack and yawned.

"Glad you believe me. I was prepared to start dishing out details of your private life until you caught on. "

ack sipped his coffee. It was perfectly brewed. The best coffee he had had in years. Really since-

Jack slid the mug away. He couldn't think of that right now. It was still too fresh. Even after all these years.

Tanwyn sighed and took a long sip of her coffee.

"I'm sorry Jack. I should have remembered."

He looked up at her and saw her gazing out the window.

"It's okay. As far as I know, you had no idea."

She looked him straight in the eye.

"I have every idea. It's how I knew you would be in Cardiff today. How I knew you would be at that pup, this late at night. I'm so sorry to have to bring you into this, today of all days, but know that I - we- Torchwood wouldn't have done so if it' wasn't necessary."

Jack nodded, He played with the cuff of his jacket.

"So what is the top secret Earth shattering mission that your Torchwood sent you here for?"

Tanwyn took another long sip of coffee and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Jack crossed his arm and leaned back in his seat.

"I know what the outcome is. I have seen that timeline. It's not pretty, and I know the date of the divergence. It's three days from now My contact has the target and the objective. I was supposed to deliver you here and he would meet us to brief us on what's going on. "

Jack nodded once more.

"Divide to preserve the integrity of the mission. Very old school."

Tanwyn shrugged.

"You speak from experience." Jack leaned forward.

"You're not wrong." Tanwyn grimaced.

Tanwyn swirled the last few sips of her coffee in her mug.

There was a moment of silence between them, with Jack recognizing a kinship with woman across from him. He wasn't sure why, but he was sure he could trust her.

"So tell me Tanwyn, if that is your real name-"

"It is."

"What was with the whole police thing earlier?"

Tanwyn blushed. Jack once again noticed something familiar about her, but could not place it.

She pulled out her wallet and flipped through some notes.

She sheepishly produced a stack of 10 quid notes.

At first glance they looked perfectly normal, but upon closer inspection it was clear that the Queen was not present on the notes, but rather the Duchess of Cambridge. An older, more mature version of her.

"You gave her future money." Jack laughed.

"I gave her future money. "

"That's a rookie mistake."

"Well at least I didn't ask to pay with retina scan."

Jack smiled and shrugged.

"Fair enough. So when are you from, anyway?"

"2046."

Jack let out a low whistle.

"That's not too far off. Are you sure you aren't too close to."

"No. I am most certainly too close to do this mission. On a number of fronts. But unfortunately Torchwood is on some hard times-"

"As is tradition."

"Right. So it was either I come and deal with this, Or the director comes himself, and he has a bit more to handle at the moment."

Jack shrugged again, this time pulling is coat from his shoulders and draping it over the back of his chair.

"Fair enough. My next question has to do with that."

He pointed at her arm. She rolled up her coat sleeve to show off her Vortex Manipulator. The matte black leather still looked fresh and the edges of the cover, usually worn or tattered, were nearly pristine.

"How did you get that?"

Tanwyn bit her lip.

"Torchwood gave it to me."

He rolled his eyes.

"Bullshit. Twenty seven years is not enough time for those to be developed by Torchwood. I couldn't fix my existing one for over 100."

Tanwyn sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and held her head back.

"Well Jack if you must know in my time Torchwood has vastly superior engineering capabilities than you did ten years ago. And we also have better engineers. Or we did."

She looked back down at the table.

Jack could almost feel the sadness rolling off of the woman in front of him. He reached out and gently patted the top of her hand.

"We've all lost people. It's the unfortunate nature of the work."

She nodded and surreptitiously wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I know. It just, It still hurts is all. One of the- of the casualties of the divergence. She was my, I was-" Tanwyn sighed heavily. "We were close. Really close. Her not making it was- it took a lot out of me."

Jack squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

"Will stopping this divergence bring her back?"

Tanwyn recoiled, She was surprised by how casually he pointed out her main conflict of interest.

"No. No even with a repaired timeline she won't come back. She was erased. Wiped from the face of Time. Even if a version of her was brought back. It wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be her. I - I don't know if I could be with a different version." Her voice quivered slightly. It was clear to Jack this was fresh.

Jack sighed. He rubbed his neck and tried to come up with a response, but failed. He knew he had struck a nerve, but instead of being rebuffed, she had been honest. Jack respected that.

"Well hey. We should get some rest. This place have a couch or something?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"The guest rooms are upstairs."

She pointed out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to make a quick call and I'll be off to bed. Goodnight Jack."

"Night. " Jack slipped out of the room and slowly made his way up the stairs. He paused and tried to listen in on her conversation. But heard nothing. Disappointed, Jack found his way into a room, and collapsed onto the bed. Exhaustion enveloped him swiftly.


	3. Chapter 3

Tanwyn was in the shower when Jack awoke. He could faintly hear her singing through the walls.

He stood and noticed a fresh set of clothes hanging on the back of the door to his room. His coat was draped over the foot of the bed. It looked as though it had been steamed. Jack sauntered into the hallway and knocked on the door.

"Tanwyn?"

The singing stopped. So did the shower.

"Yes?"

Jack tried the door knob. Locked. He hesitated for a moment.

"How do you know me?"

A pause. Tanwyn opened the door. He was shocked to see her already dressed, her casual look from the day before replaced by a sharply tailored suit. She was in the process of gluing on a shoulder length blonde bob.

"We work together. "

Jack nodded. He slipped behind her into the bathroom. And noticed that the bathroom cabinet was packed full of wigs on stands.

He snatched up a neon blue pixie cut and held it at arm's length.

"How many of these do you have?"

Tanwyn shrugged. She ran a brush through her hair and pulled some strands over the front.

"Here? Around 40."

Jack placed the wig gingerly back into the cabinet.

"In total?"

"A few hundred. " She swiped on some lipstick and straightened her shirt collar in the mirror.

"Impressive."

She turned to Jack and smiled.

"Thank you."

Jack casually removed his shirt and smiled back at Tanwyn. She rolled her eyes and headed out the bathroom door.

Jack followed her out.

"What. Is it something I said?"

She ignored him.

"I can't look that bad."

.

"Take a shower Jack." She shut the door.

Jack sighed. He headed back to the bathroom and examined himself in the mirror.

He pulled taut the skin on his stomach and sighed at the softness of it. He had maintained muscle tone, sure. But his years outside of Torchwood. Of living slowly and drifting through time, had made him soft. He noticed the few grey hairs that peppered his hair. The way his stubble grew slower.

He knew he could age. And it had been millennia, but seeing the signs of it were demoralizing at best.

He sighed and started the shower. He could faintly hear the beeping of a timer downstairs, and the chattering of voices.

He showered quickly. Wanting to get on with the day.


	4. Chapter 4

"Jack! Nice to see you again!"

A portly man in his mid 30's wrapped Jack in a hug. Jack froze. Tanwyn laughed.

"Ethan! Ethan stop! That's not Jack!"

The man released Jack and backed up.

"Tanny?"

"I mean, it is Jack. Just not our Jack. I mean, Not the Jack you know. A younger one. "

The man, Ethan, crossed his arms and studied Jack's face. Jack smiled at him.

"Are you sure?"

Jack grimaced. Tanwyn bursted into a fit of laughter.

"Yes Ethan. I'm sure."

Ethan shrugged and tottered to the fridge. Jack stood awkwardly in the kitchen.

"So, umm, Ethan was it? Are you an agent as well?"

Ethan popped his head out from the fridge and smiled.

"I'm the caretaker of this fine property. So you could say we work together."

Jack looked at Tanwyn.

"Caretaker?"

She nodded and slid the omelet she had been cooking of the pan and onto a plate.

"Torchwood thought it best to have someone who kept the property up at all times, and who could act as an anchor for agents no matter the year."

She placed the plate on the table in the nook and gestured for Jack to sit. Ethan sat a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk down next to the plate.

"I'm the Torchwood caretaker for the 21st century." He stood with his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "When everything changes!" In a poor American accent.

Tanwyn guffawed and sat across from Jack. She snatched her bowl of fruit and popped a berry into her mouth. Jack looked displeased.

He leaned over to Tanwyn and whispered.

"Is he mocking me."

She nodded and laughed.

"It's funnier in twenty years. Trust me."

Jack sighed.

"Right. So who is the third person we need on this.

Ethan dragged a chair up to the table and straddled it.

"That'd be me."

Jack frowned. He had to question the judgement of whoever was running Torchwood to give this guy key information.

"Alright."

Tanwyn took a sip of her coffee.

"Don't let Ethan's joviality fool you. He's killed more people with his coffee than you have with your gun. "

Jack looked worriedly at her cup of coffee. Ethan chuckled.

"I promise my coffee isn't that bad. She just takes after her father that way."

Tanwyn gave Ethan a warning glare and he looked at her worriedly.

"What, doesn't he-"

She kicked ethan's foot.

Jack put down his fork.

"What? Am I not allowed to know who your father is?"

Tanwyn shook her head.

"Nope. would really rather you not."

Jack grinned.

"You realise that makes it my number one priority right?"

Tanwyn groaned.

"I know."

Ethan clapped his hands, startling the pair.

"To business then. Our Target is a warehouse in Port Talbot."

Jack shook his head.

"Port Talbot is a fairly small city. If they have any warehouses it would be two or three at the most."

Ethan nodded.

"Unlike Cardiff, No body or entity monitors Port Talbot. It's the perfect place to store top secret items."

Tanwyn plopped her mug down and crossed her arms.

"What item are we stealing?"

Ethan winced. Jack took note.

"We aren't stealing anything. We are reclaiming-"

He paused to emphasise the word.

"A former operative who they have been experimenting on. "

Jack jolted in his seat.

"A former operative? Like former to us? Or you. Or-"

Ethan sighed.

"To you as well. He was Torchwood London back in 2006. That's the last record we have of him."

Tanwyn frowned.

"London '06? How are we only finding out about him now?"

Jack nodded.

Ethan sighed.

"Tanny you know as well as I do that we have no control over when we get the information we get. Look"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and laid it on the table. It projected a map of the location onto the white tabletop.

"Your objective is to gather information on this location from any and all sources. You're looking for any cells or labs where they may be keeping him. Once you have him, Tanwyn, it's your call. This falls under the Omega Directive. "

Tanwyn winced, and Jack noticed the look of pain on her face. Clearly this wasn't a pleasant job.

"So why do you need me?" Jack gestured to Tanwyn. "Clearly she's a capable agent. I'm sure she can handle herself in a fight. "

Tanwyn smiled.

"While that is true. We work in pairs. And I need some extra muscle. Why you specifically? I don't know. Maybe he thought having an immortal bullet shield would be helpful."

Jack rolled his eyes.

Ethan stood.

"In all seriousness though. I'm sending you both to Swansea for some recon. Your train tickets are with your day pass. "

Jack stopped mid bite.

"Train tickets? We are taking the train?"

Tanwyn sighed.

"Yes Jack. What? You expected us to drive there? In, oh, I don't know , a massive black SUV with TORCHWOOD emblazoned on it?"

Jack smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe."

Tanwyn stood.

"Well in the future, Torchwood is a covert organization. So yes we take the train. We wear wigs. We speak with accents and we do our bests not to draw attention to ourselves. "

Ethan nodded.

"And that's why they hired a history teacher to run a safe house." He glanced at the clock above the table.

"I'm going to be late. "

He snagged a purse from counter and tossed it to Tanwyn who caught it deftly.

"Your kit is in there. Don't contact me again. The HUB will keep me posted. He ushered them to the door. Town stepped into her shoes, and Jack quickly tied on his boots.

A car horn honked outside.

"That's your ride!"

Ethan opened the door and kissed Tanwyn cheek. Jack noticed her bristle, though she smiled anyway.

The pair quickly rushed out to the waiting cab. The driver didn't speak. Usually Jack would be happy for the quiet. But this was unsettling. He leaned against the seat in front of him and opened his mouth. Tanwyn held up a hand.


	5. Chapter 5

Tanwyn deftly gestured to Jack. Jack recognized that she was attempting to sign. He sighed. And just shook his head.

She rolled her eyes and took his hand.

The car rolled up to a stop sign in the city and she opened the door. She yanked Jack out into the street and pulled him onto the sidewalk.

"Hey what was that for?" She shook her head and kept a firm Grip on Jack's hand. Leading him along.

Jack glanced behind them and noticed two stiff looking men carefully trailing along behind them. He whispered.

"We have a tail."

She nodded. And wove her way down an Alleyway and out onto another side street. This one was more crowded. The morning rush had begun. She slowed her pace to a crawl and Pulled Jack into a small cafe. She sat them at a table in the middle. He saw their tails rush by on the sidewalk.

She waved down the waiter.

"I'd like a small chai and a medium coffee. Heavy on the cream." The waiter nodded. She leaned in close to Jack.

"Ethan sold us out."

Jack frowned.

"To who?"

"UNIT."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Now I know they do some questionable stuff, but experimenting on people without their permission is a bit above their pay grade."

Tanwyn glanced around.

"In 2015 UNIT's scientific research division went rouge. They started experimenting on sentient beings from off-world, to try and harness powers to aid in the war effort. "

"What war effort?"

"The war on terror? I think that's how they phrased it? It didn't matter."

Their coffee arrived. Tanwyn unzipped the front of her purse and pulled out a tener. She slipped it to the waiter.

Jack sighed.

"So it's not UNIT then. Just a wrong decision. But if this started in 2015 why-"

"We don't know. There is a lot we don't know. But the moment that the rogue faction takes over UNIT and begins their campaign for world domination is in three days. "

Jack groaned. He looked down at his cup of coffee.

"Why is it always world domination?"

Tanwyn shrugged, but managed a small smile.

"I don't really know. Nor do I know really how things got to the way they did. I'm sure if we knew who this operative is or was, and what they did to him, we would have a better understanding of what's happening. But currently you know as much as I do -" She sipped her Latte. "On this matter at least."

Tanwyn pulled up the sleeve of her suit and checked her watch. He noticed that her Vortex Manipulator was absent. He said nothing.

"We have two hours to get a ride to Swansea and intercept our contact.

Jack paused.

"I thought we were taking the train."

Tanwyn shook her head, and pulled a cellphone from her purse. She pulled off the backing and scraped off the microchip that was embedded into the plastic. She flipped it over and hard reset it.

"Ethan is compromised. I know enough to know that not everything he said was bull. But the target location and transport should be considered highly dangerous."

Jack whistled.

"You know, I think I've been out of the game for too long. "

Tanwyn shrugged. She stood from the table and pushed in her chair.

"You'll get back into the swing of it. Trust me."

Jack followed her outside. She shot off a few texts. And kept walking.


	6. Chapter 6

After half an hour of walking and shutting down all attempts at conversation, Tanwyn stopped in front of a parking lot.

Jack noticed a young woman sitting in a car at the back of the lot, Music blaring through the open windows. Tanwyn grinned and walked up to the car.

She kicked the door and shouted.

"Shut off that music you fucking punk."

The music stopped. And the young woman pulled herself out of the window of the car. She jumped down and glared up at Tanwyn.

"The fuck you say you uppity cunt?"

Tanwyn leaned down and got in the other girls face.

"I said shut it down fore I shut you up."

There was a moment where the two locked eyes. Jack felt himself reach for his gun.

Tanwyn and the other woman broke into laughter.

"God Tim Tams it's been ages! How've you been?"

Tanwyn smiled.

"I'm not dead yet."

"A fucking miracle."

"And you?"

"About the same. been forever since I got a gig. Been working at a damn Tesco for six months."

Tanwyn sighed.

"It's honest work though."

"Yea but since when is we honest?"

The girl pointed at Jack.

"Who's this? Your Sugar Daddy?"

Jack grimaced.

"No, he's my co-worker. We both run the same circuit."

The woman nodded. Jack cleared his throat.

"I'm Ca- Cameron Harper." The girl snarled her nose at Jack, and Tanwyn rolled her eyes.

"He's new ain't he?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"But that's beside the point. You got what I asked for?"

The girl grinned.

"I sure as fuck do pretty bird. But payment."

Tanwyn Sighed and dug through her purse. She pulled out a folder and handed it to her. She opened it and thumbed through page after page.

"Margaret Chapman? I sounds like a Man."

Tanwyn shrugged.

"You asked for unremarkable. I gave you unremarkable." Tanwyn grinned mischievously. "Margie." The woman huffed.

"Fine. If it gets me out of Tesco than Call me Sainte Marguerite." She dug into the pockets of her low rise jeans. She threw a set of keys to Tanwyn.

"Here is your package. Have a nice life Tim Tam."

Tanwyn nodded at the woman.

"You too Tiny."

Tiny slid back into the window of her car and started it up. She sped out of the lot, music blaring.

Jack mockingly unplugged his ears.

"Well that was something. Torchwood is dealing with criminals now?"

Tanwyn rolled her eyes. She clicked they key fob and the light of a Silver SUV flashed.

"We are Criminals Jack. What was that shit you used to say. 'Outside the government beyond the police.'"

Tanwyn climbed into the driver's side of the SUV and adjusted the mirrors. Jac stood in the doorway.

"One. How do you future types know so much about my decades old motivational speeches."

"Jack. You still say them. I've seen you in 2073. You're still saying them. It's kind of a thing. "

Jack sighed.

"And two. Are you sure you wanna drive?"

Tanwyn started the car and fastened her seatbelt.

"Get in the car, Jack. "

He held his hands up in mock defence.

"Okay snippy. All I'm saying is that cars in 2019 are a hell of a lot different from cars in 2050."

She adjusted the mirrors.

"Horse and buggy. Hovercraft. Doesn't matter. I can figure it out." She revved the engine. "Now get. In. The. car."


	7. Chapter 7

They managed to make it out of the parking lot before Jack started bombarding her with questions.

"Okay Tanwyn. You're a master of disguise. You have friends in low places. You're clearly experienced with this whole super spy special agent stuff."

She sighed.

"I guess my question is how a girl like you got caught up into a world like this. "

Tanwyn groaned. She tried to focus on the road but air in the car hung heavy with tension.

"I would really rather not -"

"What. You would really rather not what? Talk about it?"

"It seems like all you want to do is talk!" Tanwyn shouted.

"Well I've spent the majority of the last five years talking to no interesting. A hot guy here. A pretty lady there. And attractive individual on occasion."

"Thank I think You're confusing talking to with having sex. "

He paused.

"You might be right. But still ,none of them were interesting! A bartender. A musician. An Avon Lady. "

Tanwyn side eyed Jack.

"But you you're the most interesting person I have met in years. "

"Jack. I want you to drop this subject. Okay? Wanna talk small talk, fine. But I'm not here to fill you in on the sordid details of my life."

Jack nodded.

"So on to your love life then."

Tanwyn groaned.

"You're not my type Jack."

Jack feigned shock.

"What do you mean? I'm everyone's type!"

Tanwyn smiled. She knew he was trying to lighten the mood. To make her smile.

"Well for one, you're too old."

Jack gasped.

"It's true. I don't date over the age of 700. "

"I may be a bit older than that, But I carry it well."

Tanwyn shook her head.

"Also, I know you too well."

"That hasn't stopped people in the past."

"It stops me pretty good. I have been unfortunate enough to see every inch of you." She pulled a disgusted face. "Inside and out."

Jack shrugged.

"I think I have a nice spleen. I know, I've seen it. "

Tanwyn laughed.

"I bat for the other team, Jack."

Jack nodded.

"Gotcha. You could have started with that you know."

Tanwyn shrugged.

"It's more fun to push your buttons."

Tanwyn flashed him a cheeky grin.

Jack huffed and turned on the radio. A news alert blared.

"South Wales Police Force has issued an alert for two individuals. One white female. Early Twenties. long blond hair and a light green eyes."

"Shit."

"She was accompanied by a male, late 50's approximately 6'2. 200lbs-. "

Jack flipped the radio off.

"Oh fuck you!"

Tanwyn sighed and turned the Radio back on.

"-for the murder of a Cardiff School Teacher in his home this morning."

Tanwyn whispered to herself.

"Oh Ethan. "

"Suspects are considered armed and extremely dangerous. If you see them, Please dial 999 and do not engage. They were last seen at Cardiff Central Station, boarding a Train for Swansea."

Tanwyn turned off the radio. Jack laid his seat back and folded his arms across his chest.

"So-"

"Well now our contact will not talk to us. He has probably gone into hiding."

Jack huffed.

"Well that's great."

Tanwyn nodded. She changed lanes and slowed her pace.

"And now we are driving around Wales with A massive Target on our back."

"Yep."

"We also have less than two days to figure out how to successfully infiltrate a government facility-"

"Right."

"Rescue a captured and tenuously alive unknown individual."

"Yes."

"Stop the world domination plot created by a bunch of mad scientists and what I'm guessing to be some controlling alien being with a grudge against humanity, or at the very least Torchwood."

"That's a long list." Jack sighed

"And we all need to somehow survive this intact. "

Jack smiled.

"That's the easy part."

"For you maybe."

Tanwyn sighed.


	8. Chapter 8

Tanwyn pulled the car into a gas station. She parked at the edge of the lot.

"Switch with me."

She pulled her hair up and slid out of the car. Jack shrugged off his RAF coat and tossed it in the back seat.

They switched places.

Tanwyn slipped a small silver device out of her pocket and tapped an intricate pattern onto its surface, streams of Data projected upward from the device.

Jack watched as she selected and discarded streams of data. He paused, before recognition set in.

"That's Unique Project!"

Tanwyn winced.

"No."

"Tanwyn!"

"Fine. Yes. Its the Unique Project."

Jack swiveled in his seat.

"You cant just use that on a whim!"

"Jack it's not a whim. It's the only option I can see. We can't really do recon as known fugitives, and without Ethan we are down an intel man. "

"No."

Tanwyn finished pulling the data she wanted and had it sent to her phone.

"You don't get to tell me no Jack."

Jack backed the car out of the parking lot and pulled them back onto the road.

Tanwyn reached into her purse and pulled out a small silver device.

She pressed a button on the edge and data streamed down it's surface. She selected different numbers and codes, before coming up with what she wanted.

"There. Holly Morris. Second year at the Cardiff Metropolitan University. Computer Science. Currently-"

Jack shook his head.

"You got all of that from Unique?"

Tanwyn smiled.

"You couldn't?"

Jack chuckled.

"The last time I touched that thing was 1978? 1979? It was way too advanced for our team then, and even I couldn't figure it out." Jack sped the car up, overtaking a truck and weaving around another car.

Tanwyn flinched as Jack slid the car into a tiny gap in traffic. She cleared her throat.

"Wasn't Ms. Sato working on this project around eleven years ago?"

Jack's jaw twitched.

"I don't remember."

Tanwyn took a deep breath. She slid her hand over the top of the device and pocketed it.

"Our exit is a few kilometers up. Our target is on a day trip with her Bio Science class."

Jack simply drove. He needed time to process.


	9. Chapter 9

They drove in silence for a while. Tanwyn glanced up from her devices and pointed to the right.

"Take that exit."

Jack obliged.

"Follow the signs for the country park."

Jack glanced over at her incredulously.

"The country park? Are we taking a day off?"

Tanwyn smiled. She looked into the mirror and gingerly removed her wig. The red mark on her forehead faded shockingly fast. She fluffed her hair quickly wiped off her lipstick.

"What are you doing?'

Tanwyn pulled a small makeup kit from her purse. She popped in a pair of contacts.

"I"

Tanwyn used eyeliner to dot freckles across her nose and cheeks.

"am working on"

She pulled a set of teeth covers out of her bag and popped them on.

"Disguising myself."

She pulled off her button down and shimmied out of her slacks. Leaving her in a light grey tank top and a pair of shorts. Jack noticed a myriad of still healing scars on her neck and arms. He said nothing.

Tanwyn pulled a spray bottle out of her bag and sprayed her scarred skin. Her wounds disappeared.

"Neat."

Tanwyn grinned. Jack noticed the false Gap tooth and couldn't help but think of his former colleague.

"Dermal regenerative spray. A fast forward button on healing. Not as thorough as nanobots, but easily as handy. "

She pulled a hoodie out from behind her slipped it on.

"Viola."

Jack looked over. Gone was the professional 20 something and there sat a young teenager.

"Impressive. You barely look like a highschooler."

Tanwyn smiled again.

"Thank you. Now for you."

Jack pulled the car into the back of a car park.

"Wo Wo, slow down there sister. Me? No. You don't get to mess with this."

Jack gestured to his face. Tanwyn rolled her eyes.

"Jack. It's this -" She held up her makeup bag. and waved it mockingly.

"Or you can face this."

She pulled a gun out of her purse. Jack recognized it as a simple 9mm pistol.

"You've been packing this whole time?" Tanwyn shrugged.

"It would be stupid for me not to. I don't care for firearms. " She slid a blade out from a holster in her Vortex manipulator.

"I like quieter weapons."

Jack nodded in approval.

"Good to know."

He shut off the car.

"So guess it's makeup time.

Tanyn grinned.

Twenty minutes, two slap fights, and a litany of swears later. Jack was dressed like a typical american tourist. Tanwyn had spared him the socks and sandals. And he got to wear jeans instead of shorts, but she missed his hair and wrangled him into colored contacts and glasses. And forced him into a college sweatshirt that looked a little too warn and a little too old.

She had drawn on a few more wrinkles than he had earned. One look in the car side mirror confirmed Jack's worst suspicions.

" I look like your father!"

A nearby family glanced over. And Tanwyn giggled nervously.

"Come on _dad_ That joke is getting a touch old, don't you think?"

Her flawless American Accent. Jack forced a chuckle. The nearby family moved on.

He leaned in and whispered.

"I hope you know how much I hate this."

Tanwyn laughed. It was clearly genuine.

"Oh I know." She tossed her bag into the car and started skipping shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoody.

Jack watched her whole demeanor changed as she surveyed her surroundings. The word chameleon came to mind.

She caught sight of what appeared to be a group of college students. They had notebooks out following a professor as she droned on.

She started meandering toward them.

Jack followed her with his phone out, stopping to snap pictures of flowers and birds.

He noticed a straggler from the school group sitting on a bench taking away at her laptop. She looked around nervously.

"Hey kiddo?" Jack called. Tanwyn stopped and spun around. She glanced in the direction Jack was looking and nodded.

"What."

"Come look at this bird."

Tanwyn huffed and rolled her eyes.

She walked over and groaned.

"Dad we didn't come all the way here to look at birds. "

Jack frowned.

"Do you have your phone on you?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"Then why don't you go explore. I'm going to stick around here a bit. "

"Okay."

Tanwyn headed towards the school group. Their bit of performative theater had been witnessed by at least a dozen people. And had perfectly set up their dynamic for interactions.

Jack noticed a young mother eyeing him from further in the park.

He smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and turned to her kids.

He sighed and started down the path.


	10. Chapter 10

Tanwyn sat on the bench across from the girl and Pulled out her phone.

She deftly hacked into the girls laptop and blacked out her screen.

"What the fuck?" The girl whispered to herself. She furiously hacked at her keyboard.

Tanwyn smiled. She sent a message to the girl's screen.

 _Look up._

The girl looked up from her screen Tanwyn saw the terror in her eyes.

 _Don't be afraid. We aren't here to hurt you._

The girl shook her head and attempted to type back.

"Shit."

The girl shakily pulled out her cellphone. Tanwyn killed it with a keystroke.

The girl looked panicked.

 _We have seen your work. Join us._

The girl took a deep breath. Tanwyn watched as she pulled back her hair and tied it with a bandana.

She pulled a USB drive from a pocket on her jacket and plugged it into the laptop.

Tanwyn nodded in approval as she lost control of the girls laptop.

Tanwyn felt a rush of air and a shadow crossed her screen. Tanwyn looked up to see the girl looming over her.

"Who are you?"

.

"Excuse me?" Tanwyn frowned

The girl leaned into Tanwyn's face. Her dark eyes gleaming. Not with anger, or fear, but curiosity.

"You hacked my laptop and my phone. You're wearing some sort of weird pip-boy looking thing."

Tanwyn glanced down at her arm. Surprised that the girl could see it. She squinted

"And fake freckles went out of style years ago. "

Tanwyn sighed. She patted the bench next to her.

The girl sat.

"Are you with Anonymous?"

Tanwyn shook her head.

"Sorry what?"

"You know , anonymous? That big secret group of hackers. They leak the names of racists and shit."

Tanwyn looked at her incredulously.

"No, but I'm glad you'd be excited to join them."

"Well if you're not Them then-" The girl huffed.

"Torchwood."

The girl tilted her head.

"Who?"

Tanwyn chuckled

"Sorry. That just not a question I get asked often."

"Clearly." The girl crossed her arms across her chest. "So what do you want from me?"

Tanwyn slipped a small silver device from her pocket. She activated it, and slipped it to the girl.

" This device has access to all of the personal data for every individual in a one thousand kilometer radius."

The girl snorted a laugh.

"Get out. That's fucking impossible. That's -" She watched the data stream down the front of the device. "That's my IP address." She selected it and read the next line. "My name. My grades in school. My medical records. "

"Your financial statements, the blueprints for your childhood home. How old you were when you commited your first felony cyber attack on a classified installation." Tanwyn smiled.

The girl looked down.

Tanwyn gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I'm not here to judge you for your actions. And I'm not here to blackmail you. I just wanted to offer you the chance to work with that." She pointed to the device.

"And what do I have to do?"

Tanwyn grinned.

"Walk with me."


	11. Chapter 11

The pair walked far away from running kids and cooing parents on the playground. Tanwyn noticed Jack trailing carefully behind.

"There is an organization that acts under orders of the queen, to investigate and contain any activities or individuals who are of an extraterrestrial origin."

"What like the x-files?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"You've gotta be shitting me."

Tanwyn shrugged.

"You can believe it or not. There was a time where that was Torchwood's duty. And then there was UNIT-"

"Oh I've heard of them. They're the ones that deal with the big disasters, and like weapon of mass destruction and the like?"

"Sort of. Most of those disasters were Alien in origin "

Holly grabbed Tanwyn's arm and stopped short..

"Shut up!"

"I know. It's a lot to process. UNIT was her majesty's military's response to the existence of Torchwood. Their goal was the same, but instead of protecting humanity from danger, they also sought to capitalize on advanced tech, and create stronger weapons and more advance human soldiers, to bolster the military forces."

"Yikes. "

"Yea."

"So you Torchwood types, what do you do with what you find."

Tanwyn shrugged.

"If it's sentient and peaceful, we help it. If it's sentient and not peaceful, we deal with it. If its tech that could be weaponized. We destroy it. If it's not, we store it. If it's something that we may need to use we lock it up. But that is only for specific items.'

"Like this."

She held up the device.

"Yep."

"Okay, so say I don't join your little UFO club?"

"You go back to your school with this wild tale of a crazy american kid you met at the park. They'll either think you're crazy or I am, either way they won't believe you. People like to ignore things that make them uncomfortable. "

"Like that thing on your wrist. "

Tanwyn nodded.

"Exactly. But you look straight at it."

"Yea. Because I need to know the truth. It's what drives me."

Jack jogged over to the girls.

Holly held her laptop close to her chest.

"Hey, Tan, uh-" Jack gestured to Holly. "New friend?"

Holly shook Jack's hand.

"Hello Mr.- "

"Harkness. Captain Jack Harkness.

Holly's eyes widened with surprise.

"Captain Jack Harkness? The Captain Jack Harkness?"

Jack puffed himself up and flashed Holly his signature charming smile.

"You've heard of me?"

"No."

Jack deflated.

Tanwyn sputtered into laughter.

"You should see your face!"

Jack groaned.

"How old are you?"

"Young enough to find that fucking funny."

Jack groaned.

"Is this going to be one of those teams where the kids gang up and harass the mature one?"

Tanwyn crossed her arms indignantly.

"Who are you calling a kid?"

Holly laughed.

"You guys are fun. But what's the mission? What kind of alien mutant hybrid are we chasing down?"

Jack and Tanwyn exchanged a look.

"We shouldn't talk about this out here. Let's get on the road."

Holly nodded solemnly.

"We can take my van. "


	12. Chapter 12

Tanwyn and Jack followed Holly out to the parking lot, where she unlocked the back doors of a large black Van. Jack shook his head.

"Are you a college kid or serial killer. "

Holly giggled. She swung open the back doors to reveal a massive bank of computers and monitors on one side of the van, with a fold down mattress on the other side.

Tanwyn let out a long low whistle.

"This is quite a setup."

She climbed into the van.

Jack nodded.

"How can you afford this?"

Holly tapped the side of her nose and winked.

"A lady never reveals her secrets. "

Tanwyn leaned over to Jack.

"coin."

"Ah."

Holly climbed up to the front and started the Van. She popped her head into the back.

"Which of you want's to drive?"

Tanwyn dashed for the front , But Jack clambered over her, pulling himself sideways into the driver's seat.

Holly laughed.

"Fine. I guess Jack drives. "

Holly pulled down the bed in the back and perched on the edge of it. She started her computers, the combined whirr of the various fans and electronics coming to life drowned out the rev of the engine.

Tanwyn cracked open the passenger door.

"Where are you going?"

Tanwyn hopped down.

"I have to get my purse Jack."

Jack shook his head.

Tanwyn hopped out and shut the door.

Holly keyed into her computer and sat her device on the desktop.

Jack stretched in his seat.

Holly activated the cameras around the van. She watched Jack closely. she saw how he rubbed the makeup lines from his forehead with his sleeve. She watched his eyes drifted over his own reflection in the mirror. She saw the age in his eyes. The dogged tiredness belated by his boyish features.

Holly opened a data portal and added his name to a list of various names and locations. Several data files popped up. She kept an eye on him while she opened file after file, some from Her Majesty's armed forces. Some from UNIT. Some from conspiracy websites and blogs. There were pictures of him from the Blitz. Pictures of him from the seventies. A photo of him naked at Woodstock. A file listed him as immortal, another, an alien. A third, had him as an ancient reptilian in a human suit.

Holly glanced over at the camera screen again. She didn't see him.

"Huh. I haven't seen that photo."

Holly jumped in her seat. Jack smiled.

"Doing your research. I'm impressed."

Holly blushed.

"I'm not going to just drive off with some random strangers without reading up on you first."

Jack chuckled.

"I'm already in your van."

Holly reached her hand up and pressed a button on the ceiling. A sheet of ballistic glass thunked between her and Jack.

Jack nodded, impressed.

"The doors in the front are sealed shut, and the van functions on remote. I am completely secure and in control. "

Jack laughed.

"Holly, I like you. You remind me of an old friend of mine."

Holly keyed Tanwyn's name into the same list.

"Oh really?"

"Yea. She was a computer wizard. A brilliant scientist. An exobiologist at one point. I could hand her any piece of alien tech and we would have a schematic on it in twenty minutes flat.

Holly rekeyed in Tanwyn's name.

Nothing.

"Jack?"

"Yea?"

SHe tried once more. Found nothing.

"How long have you been working with Tanwyn?"

Jack shrugged.

"Twenty four hours. "

Holly guffawed.

"And you trust her?"

Jack nodded.

"I do. Something tells me we have history."

Holly pointed at her screen.

"According to every agency in every industrial nation I can access says she has no history."

Jack smiled.

"Maybe you should try some interstellar ones."

Holly rolled her eyes.

A flash of bright white light filled the cabin of the van. Blood pooled on the front of Jack's hoodie. He groaned and collapsed to the floor.

Holly screamed.

Standing over Jack's Corpse was a Tanwyn. Except, it wasn't.

This being had the same face as Tanwyn. It had her strange wrist device. Her hair was shaved close. She wore all black. A scar ran deep across the side of her head.

She pulled the knife from Jack's corpse and slammed into the ballistic glass. It made a more. The glass cracked and bowed inward.

Holly pulled a gun from a panel in her desk she held it up shakily.

A third blow. The glass broke through.

The entity pushed her fist through the hole in the glass, unflinching as the glass tore through her skin

She pulled out some chunks of the destroyed glass.

Another flash of white light.

The being that was not Tanwyn spun around. Before Holly would react, the being's head cracked against the glass, leaving a trail of blood on the glass as she fell to the floor.

Tanwyn stood atop Jack's body, blood trickling from her jaw and drying on her hoodie. She tossed her purse into the passenger seat.

"You okay?"


	13. Chapter 13

Holly lifted the barricade and lowered her gun.

"Jesus Christ."

Tanwyn sheathed her knife and held her hands out in front of her.

"Holly. Are you okay?"

Holly shook her head. Tanwyn gestured at the bed.

"Can I sit ?" Holly nodded.

Tanwyn carefully sat down next to Holly. She carefully put her arms around Holly. The gun clattered to the floor.

Holly collapsed into Tanwyn's arms.

"Jack, I was talking to him and -"

"It'll be okay."

"He's dead."

Tanwyn looked at the ceiling and then glanced at the monitor bank. She saw the twitch of Jack's hand "Holly. Jack he's -" Holly looked up at Tanwyn.

"Huh."

"Jack doesn't... he isn't"

A sharp inhale.

"Jesus Christ, really?" Jack called out.

Holly clambered back and shook her head.

"Oh hell no. Fuck. No."

Tanwyn sighed.

"Welcome back Jack."

Jack pushed the other Tanwyn's corpse off of him. and slowly crawled up into the driver's seat.

"What?" Jack kicked at the corpse with the toe of his boot.

"What the fuck Tanwyn?"

"In here!"

Jack swung himself to peer into the back. He winced in pain.

"The fuck kid?"

Tanwyn shrugged.

"I got busted in the parking lot."

"I can see that. Do you have any explanation for why you might be here looking like some batman reject? "

Tanwyn shrugged.

"No idea."

Jack sighed. Tanwyn looked as confused and disgruntled as he's sure he did.

"Port Talbot?"

"Port Talbot."

Jack dropped the van into reverse and pulled the car out onto the road. Tanwyn pulled off her hoodie and used it to wipe the blood from her face.

Holly stood up and shook her head.

"Who the fuck are you people? "

Tanwyn crouched and pulled up the sleeve on the corpse of herself.

"We are Torchwood."


	14. Chapter 14

Tanwyn stripped the corpse of it's vortex manipulator and carefully brought it up to her own. There was no spark. No disruption.

Tanwyn grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

Holly still sat curled on the back of bed, She held a pillow to her chest.

"This isn't mine."

She held up the Vortex Manipulator.

"What do you mean?"

Jack chimed in from the front.

"She means that the corpse on the floor isn't her."

Holly scoffed.

"How could it be?"

"Look. Holly. I was going to give you a more effective and in depth briefing on what's going on, but the basic is that we are here to stop a temporal shift that changes the future for the worse. I thought that this might be me, just corrupted by this, divergence, if you will. but it is not."

"Which makes this what?"

Tanwyn sighed.

"I don't know Jack, Okay? I don't know everything."

Jack huffed He looked out the window and slowed the van.

"Tanwyn, get up here!"

Tanwyn clambered over the body and jumped into passenger seat.

"Shit."

A police brigade blocked the road. Dozens of cars were stopped, each one with the occupants handing over their documents and opening their doors for search.

Jack and Tanwyn exchanged worried glances.

A thump.

Tanwyn turned around to see Holly dragging the corpse into a hollowed out compartment in the floor.

She flattened the body out into the back and then popped her head into the front.

"Body's hid."

Tanwyn shook her head and looked over at Jack.

"I really like her."

She smiled at Holly.

"I really like you."

Holly blushed.

Jack cleared his throat.

"Hiding the body is nice, but we are still wanted criminals."

Tanwyn grimaced.

"Right. Uh, Jack, Get in the back."

"What?"

"I wont be recognized but you will."

"I will not."

Holly pointed at her computer screen, still displaying the images and files for Jack.

"You will. You have a very recognizable face."

Traffic came to a full stop. Jack begrudgingly switched places with Holly.

"What are we going to do when the open the back, I'm still here.

"Get in with the body."

Jack shook his head.

"No way."

Tanwyn pulled out her gun.

"You can get in yourself, or I can put you in there."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll get in the corpse hole."

He crawled in with the body, and shut the floorboard on himself.

Tanwyn pulled the sheets off of the bed and threw them over the blood pooled floor.

The van crawled forward in traffic.

"Your face."

Tanwyn pulled down the sunshade and examined the slash to her face in the mirror. It had already sealed over, and the ragged edges had begun to knit themselves together. She pulled her dermal regeneration spray out of her purse and spritzed her face.

The wound finished healing, leaving a faint line.

Holly squeezed the steering wheel tight.

"You have no concept of going it easy, do you."

Tanwyn pulled a t-shirt from her purse and quickly changed.

"Nope. No time for easy. In this line of work you gotta roll with the punches."

"Okay, If they were punches that'd be one thing, but a double homicide and resurrection?"

They came to a full stop. Two cars till the barricade.

"Fair. That's, that's fair. "

Holly nodded sarcastically.

"You could've given me a heads up. "

They moved again.

One car.

"I could've. But would you have believed me?"

Papers out the window. Car doors opened.

"Probably not."

"I'm sorry."

They rolled forward.

"You're forgiven."

Tanwyn smiled softly. She took a deep breath and pointed toward the barricade.

"We are filmmakers. I'm your American Girlfriend. If they find the blood I tripped."

Holly shook her head and rolled the window down.

"Hello ladies. License and certificates please. "

Holly leaned over Tanwyn and popped open the glove box. She pulled out a stack of papers and passed them to the officer.

"Where are you headed?"

"Port Talbot."

"Any reason? "

Holy squeezed Tanwyn's thigh. Tanwyn blushed.

"Taking my girlfriend to meet my Nan."

The officer smiled kindly at Tanwyn.

"Can I see your papers please?

"Of course officer."

She dug in her purse and pulled out her American passport.

She passed it to the officer.

"American ah? You fly all the way up here for this?"

Tanwyn laughed.

"Not entirely. I'm also here to shoot some footage of Brecon Beacons." She leaned conspiratorially toward the window. "Rumor has it that monsters live in the swamps there."

The officer laughed.

"Well I don't know about monsters but I'm sure you'll see some surely old folks. "

Tanwyn shrugged. The officer tapped the side of the van.

"Mind if we check the back?"


	15. Chapter 15

Holly Shrugged.

"Sure. It's a bit of a mess back there."

THe officer chuckled.

He swung open the back door of the van. Holly caught Tanwyn's eyes in the rear view mirror. There was concern there. But also resolve.

"Wow. You weren't kidding. It looks like a murder scene back here."

Tanwyn guffawed. Holly grimaced. The officer shined his flashlight through the back of the van. He started to climb in when another officer grabbed his sleeve.

"Sir, You have a call from dispatch."

The officer shrugged. He slammed shut the doors of the van and walked back to the window.

"You're all set ladies. Have a good day."

Holly smiled at him.

"You too."

Holly pulled away. Tanwyn stretched in her seat and turned to Holly.

"You are brilliant!"

Holly blushed.  
"Thank you but I-"

Tanwyn shook her head.

"Don't undercut yourself. You did well! Holly chuckled. Tanwyn gazed at Holly.

Jack cleared his throat, jolting both Holly and Tanwyn.

Holly swerved on the road.

"Jesus Jack!"

Jack chuckled. He slammed the floorboard shut behind him.

"Consider it payback."

Tanwyn rolled her eyes.

"Jack wedged himself between the two seats and wrapped an arm around Tanwyn's seat.

"So, Tanwyn , what's happening here?"

Tanwyn bit her lip.

"I don't know?"

Jack gripped Tanwyn's shoulder tightly.

"What are you?"

Tanwyn winced. She glanced over at Holly, who has trying to focus on the road.

Jack gripped Tanwyn Tighter. She grimaced at the pain.

"Fine. Jack. Okay. Let's, let's just-" She gestured over to the road. "Let's just pull over and-"

Jack shook his head.

"No. No let's talk about this now. " He turned to Holly. "Keep driving until Port Talbot."

Jack turned back to Tanwyn, who ripped herself out of Jack's grip.

"You tell us what's going on or you're going to join your body double in there. "

Tanwyn sighed. She pushed Jack back and made her way into the back of the van. She plopped onto the bed and peeled off her tank top. she turned her back to Jack, revealing a string of numbers and letters tattooed down her back.

"I am asset Sierra Indego X-ray two six one three: White group."

Jack let out a low whistle.

Tanwyn put her shirt back on and turned to face him.

"I was found by Torchwood as a kid. The research leading up to me was destroyed."

Jack leaned against the computer desk.

"And you don't know anything more? Your father, Torchwood, they just kept you?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"Yea. I had already been conditioned and traumatized for over a year at that point. They couldn't just release me into the general populace. "

Jack sighed.

"And who knows what kind of things could set off pre conditioned training. One kid hits you on the playground and the next you have a massacre."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked Jack in the eye.

"My father decided that letting Torchwood raise me would be the safest option."

"So here you are."

Tanwyn nodded.

"So here I am."

Holly threw on the blinker and pulled the van around a slow driver.

"And that other you?"

Tanwyn glanced down at the floorboards.

"My best guess is that she's me from another timeline maybe, or that there were more of us? Maybe we had the same parents. Maybe we were test tube kids"

She shuddered.

"I really don't know Jack."

Jack straightened up.

"This is crazy you know. Even for me."  
Tanwyn smiled.

"Yea, but you love it."

Jack rolled his eyes.

The car rolled to a stop.

Holly turned around in her seat.

"We're here."


	16. Chapter 16

They had pulled up to a traffic light in Port Talbot. There was little traffic, save for the late afternoon pedestrians hopping about from shop to shop.

Holly pulled the car into a community lot and threw it into park. She bolted from her seat into the lot and fell to the pavement.

Tanwyn climbed her way out of the back and ran to her. Holly retched onto the ground. Heaving breakfast onto the pavement.

Tanwyn rubbed her back soothingly and let her finish.

Holly fell back onto the pavement and looked up at Tanwyn, embarrassed.

"Sorry."

Tanwyn smiled.

"Nothing to apologize for. It's perfectly normal. Adrenaline fucks with us all."

Holly nodded. She took a moment to collect herself and then reached out to Tanwyn.

Tanwyn helped her up and let her lean on her shoulder while she stared up at the grey sky.

They took a moment there, just to collect their breath.

Jack sticks his head out of the drivers door.

"You guys hungry?"

Holly groaned and Tanwyn tossed Jack a stern glare.

Jack threw his hand up in mock surrender.

"Sorry, just figured it was time for a break."

Tanwyn shook her head.

She looked down at Holly, who was taking slow, deep breaths.

"You're right about that."

She looked around and saw a small thrift shop two blocks away.

"I think we could use some new duds. I'm down to my last layer."

Jack nodded.

"And I'm sick of dressing like your father."

Tanwyn laughed.

"It's settled then. Holly and I will go pick up some clothes. Jack, you can stay behind."

Jack scowled.

"Why do I have to stay behind?"

Holly pointed at his blood stained hoodie.

"You look like a murder victim, and it's not Halloween. We'll pick you something up. "

Tanwyn patted the side of the van.

"We also need someone to guard our, eh, guest. "

Jack groaned.

"Fine. But We will go together for food afterward, yea?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"Sure."

The pair headed to the store.

After picking up a few outfits for themselves, and a new ensemble for Jack. The sauntered back to the van. They opened the back to find the floorboard hatch open, with Jack and the body gone.

Tanwyn took a deep breath.

Holly grabbed her hand.

"Fuck."


	17. Chapter 17

Holly hopped into the back of the van and powered up her computer bank. Tanwyn clambered after her, closing the van doors and maneuvering her way to the front. She peeled out of her tank top and shorts, while Holly pulled up the camera feeds.

"Okay, here's when we left."

She full screened an image of them standing outside the van. She switched cameras to the interior.

"Here's ten minutes later."

The screen showed Jack putting up the bed and looking at the floor compartment.

Holly scrubbed forward a dozen frames. Jack had his gun out and ready. He opened the floor compartment.

A hand reached up and grabbed him.

Holly went frame by frame now. The woman grabbed his gun. Tried to rest it free. It flew across the van. Jack grabbed her by the arm. Swung her down. He wrapped an arm around her. She bit him. He loosened his grip. She slid out. She went for her wrist. She hesitated when her vortex manipulator was gone. Jack lunged at her. She dodged. He spun around. She scored a deft strike to his groin. He went down. She grabbed his arm. Keyed something in. Kicked him in the jaw. A flash of blue light. They were gone.

Tanwyn leaned against Holly's chair.

"Fuck me."

Holly glanced over at Tanwyn and then glanced again. Tanwyn was leaning over her in her underwear. Holly could see the scars and marks that ran down Tanwyn's side. It looked less like old injuries and more like bolts of lighting, crisscrossing her skin. Holly's breath caught in her throat. She reached out to touch them.

Tanwyn cleared her throat.

"Holly? Did you hear me?"

Holly looked up at Tanwyn, who had a bemused look on her face.

"Huh? "

Tanwyn chuckled.

"I said we need to pin down the location of that warehouse stat. We can't go saving Jack until we have our main mission complete.

Holly hesitated.

"Are you sure? Having someone like him, someone who's, you know-"

Tanwyn shook her head.

"We don't have the time. If that thing kills him it'll most likely leave for us. If he kills her, he'll come back. Either way we don't have the time to wait and see who comes knocking."

Holly sighed.

"You're right. "

Tanwyn stood there for a moment, before pulling back to finish getting dressed.

Holly looked away.

Tanwyn had changed into some fitted jeans and white t-shirt. She slipped on the black leather jacket and glanced at the mirror.

"I really wish I had my hair."

Holly looked up at her, confused.

"Eh, forget it."

Tanwyn spun around and grabbed her purse from the floor.

"Next thing's next. Arms."

She pulled a pistol from her purse and held it out for Holly.

"You ever use one of these?"

Holly nodded.

"I have. Once. At a range. When I was in America"

Tanwyn smiled.

"More than most. You know the basics then. Keep the safety on. Don't point unless you aim to shoot it. Finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot."

"Keep a firm grip. Don't lock your knees. Aim for the largest mass."

"Bingo. You'll be fine."

She handed the gun carefully to Holly.

Holly gingerly took it and flipped it over in her hands.  
"If anyone gets into this van. Shoot them. Even if it is me. Or Jack. Especially Jack."

Holly nodded.

"Once we find the location, look for a way in. Blueprints. Fire safety layouts. "

"Got it."

"We need a game plan to get me in. Once I'm there we'll need to keep contact."

Tanwyn pulled two com links from her purse.

"Keep it on. No matter what. If I can't talk I'll tap. Two for no. One for yes. Three for fuck this shit I'm out."

Holly chuckled.

"Got it."

Tanwyn took a deep breath.

"If the comm goes dead. If I'm silent for more than ten minutes. If you pick up that you are being traced. Shut it down, and get the hell out of dodge. Don't try to come in for me. Don't stick around. Don't play hero."

Tanwyn pulled a wad of money from her purse. She double checked that it was from the right year.

"Here. For emergencies. Go buy yourself a hotel room. Get yourself a new look, and disappear. Should be enough."

Holly took the money and placed it into a desk drawer.

"Thank you."

Tanwyn sat down next to Holly and pulled the keyboard onto her lap. She keyed in her best guess at a location.

"Okay. There are these three warehouses just up from the docks. They're small, and unassuming, but they're also the closest to the size that i got from my informant in Cardiff.

Holly took the keyboard back and pulled up the locations. She Keyed her way into a few satellites.

"Looks like none of them have any unusual communications coming in or going out. And they're all owned by a local fishing company. "

"Damn."

Holly refocused her attention to another section of warehouses.  
"These look clean too but-"

She pulled up a database listing.

"There!" She excitedly pulled up a tiny warehouse closer to the center of town. "

"That? That's a shed!"

Holly smiled.

"Yes! But it's a shed that has no affiliation."

Tanwyn leaned forward.

"What?"

"Yea! It's on its own plot of land. It has no listed owners and -"

She pulled up CCTV footage from the road outside the building.

"Way too much traffic for a basic warehouse."

"Plenty for a secret laboratory."

The girls high five.

"I'm starving. Want to grab a bite?"

Holly side eyed Tanwyn.  
"Now?"

"Yea?"

"Really?"

"Yea! We aren't going to get anywhere on an empty stomach."

Holly groaned.

"Literally."


	18. Chapter 18

Holly and Tanwyn grabbed their meals to go and parked the van two blocks from the warehouse.

They ate their food in silence as Holly skimmed through every piece of information they could find on the warehouse.

"Are you sure you can't just walk in the front door?"

Tanwyn stopped chewing. She shook her head.

"Damn."

Tanwyn choked down the bite of her burger and looked at Holly.

"No other way in?"

Holly shook her head.

"Can't you just zap your way in?"

Tanwyn shrugged.

"In theory. If they don't have a temporal dampening field."

"In practice?"

We're going off of older blueprints. There's too many unknowns. I might send myself halfway through a wall. Or right into the arms of security. And not in a fun way."

Holly rolled her eyes.

Tanwyn scanned over the blueprints one more time.

"Wait."

"What?"

Tanwyn leaned forward and squinted.

"Do you see that there? On the roof?"

Holly zoomed in on the blueprints. There was a small grate.

"Can you find a picture of that?"

Holly pulled up an aerial shot of the building. Sure enough, there it was.

"Ventilation?"

Tanwyn nodded.

"Not my favorite way in-"

"-but it would be a way in."

Tanwyn nodded.

She pushed her way off of the bed and balled up her burger wrapper.

"Alrighty. Are you ready for this?"

Holly took a deep breath and nodded. She put the comm link into her ear and activated it. Tanwyn did the same.

"Anything you wanna say before I go?"

Holly glanced down and then back up at Tanwyn.

"When you get back, we should grab coffee."

Tanwyn grinned. She opened her Vortex Manipulator and walked back into the light.


	19. Chapter 19

Jack landed with a thud onto a cold tile floor. His attacker rolled on the floor next to him, leaping up into a fighting stance.

Jack rolled over as her boot came down onto the floor where his head had been. Jack grabbed her ankle and yanked her down, using his grip to push himself up off the floor. He staggered up and lying across the room. He braced himself against the wall as his assailant clambered up from the floor.

Jack looked around. He was some sort of office. Desks were lined up in rows across the room.

Two horrified young women were staring up from their desks. He recognized their uniforms.

UNIT.

"Shit."

Jack bolted for the door. A UNIT soldier came barrelling in. Jack collided with him. Using his momentum he snatched the soldiers gun from his holster and spun around, placing three shots through his assailants head.

The women in the office screamed as the attacker went down. Jack felt heavy arms grab him from behind. He shoved his elbows back and ducked under the man's grip. Jack spun back around and used the pistol to knock the man unconscious.

Jack darted out into the hallway and Leveled two of the soldiers who came barrelling toward him. He leapt over their bodies and spun around a corner. He saw a set of white coats sprinting down the hallway. Two soldiers flanked them.

Jack ducked into a niche as one of the soldiers turned around, popping a shot in his direction. Jack checked his Vortex manipulator. The coordinates were in Wales. He looked closer.

He was in the center of Port Talbot.

Jack smiled to himself.


	20. Chapter 20

Tanwyn fell gracefully from the air vents into a storage closet. She took a second to dust the cobwebs from her clothes before tapping her comm link.

"Holly?" She whispered.

Holly let out a sharp exhale, like she had been holding her breath.

"You made it ! Good. Now. I managed to patch my way into their security system. You're on the second lowest level, right above what looks like a massive lab."

"Do you have a visual on our target?"

Tanwyn heard rustling.

"I think so. There are a few subjects down there but, I think. "

Tanwyn heard her swallow hard.

"I think the only human one would be your guy, right?"

Tanwyn smiled.

"Yea. Probably. Any description."

"White male, late twenties, dark hair."

Tanwyn rolled her eyes.

"That could actually be anyone."

Holly sighed.

"I know. I'm running his image through some facial rec. right now. In the meantime you should head out now. There's a patrol of two soldiers heading down the hall now. You'll hear them pass."

Holly heard the pounding of running combat boots.

"Do they look like their in a rush?"

Tanwyn poked her head out of the closet.

She heard shouting.

And gunfire.

She ducked back into the closet and drew her gun.

"Tanwyn, you're not going to believe this."

Tanwyn heard another set of boots coming toward the closet. She took a deep breath, Opened the door and leveled her gun.

One shot.

Jack was down. Tanwyn had fired a shot straight through his forehead. She groaned internally and grabbed Jack by the boot, Pulling him into the closet with her.

"You shot him!"

Tanwyn sighed.

"I can see that."

"You could have used him."

"I still can."

"What do you mean?"

"He'll be back on his feet in like, three minutes."

"You don't have three minutes. "

Tanwyn sighed.

She knelt down examined the bullet wound to Jack's skull. The edges were already knitting together, and she could see the rebounding brain matter congealing through the hole. She pulled the small bottle of dermal regeneration spray from her jacket and sprayed it on his wound. The edges immediately sealed. She counted to ten, and then moved back.

Jack came gasping back to life, his eyes flying open.

He reached for his gun but Tanwyn held him down.

"Jack, Jack it's okay. It's Tanwyn. "

Jack tried to pull his gun again and Tanwyn shook her head.

"I'm here to help. Okay? We're in the UNIT facility in Port Talbot. "

"You shot me!"

Tanwyn rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know it was you."

"But you did!"

Tanwyn stood up and held up her hands.

"We don't have time for this Jack. You can lecture me about target ID later. Right now we have-" she mocked checking her wrist for a watch "No time to chat. Get up. Get behind me. We have a mission."

Jack scrambled up And shrugged his shoulders. The tattered hoodie he had been wearing all day was looking especially rough, and Tanwyn winced looking at him.

"Holly. How's the hall."

"Clear. But you have a whole battalion on your tail."

Tanwyn nodded. She flung open the door and stormed into the hall, gun at the ready.  
Holly cleared her throat.

"Okay. There should be a door to a stairwell on your left."

Tanwyn shouldered open the stairwell door. She heard boots storming down the stairs above.

She and jack bolted down a flight of stairs and kicked open the door. The room opened into a short hallway with a large steel door shut in front of them.

"Holly. I need you to get that door."

Tanwyn could hear Holly typing furiously.

The door clinked open and slid up two feet, and stopped. The cacophony of boots grew louder.

"Holly!"

"Almost there."

The door shuttered up another foot.

"Good enough."

Tanwyn ducked under it and stood up, Gun in hand. She popped off two shots into the guards and turned her attention to the scientists hovering over the body of the missing operative.  
"Tanwyn that target he's-" Tanwyn felt bile rise up in her throat. She turned to Jack. He had rage in his eyes.

Tanwyn reached out to him.  
"Tanwyn?"

As if in slow motion Tanwyn turned back to look at the body on the table. In rapid succession the scientist standing over him fell to the ground.

Jack sprinted to the table. He frantically pulled cables and ports from the arms of the welshman.

The large steel door fell closed, shutting out the soldiers who had been chasing them.

Jack pulled the body to his chest and looked up at Tanwyn in horror.

Tanwyn nodded, and opened up her Vortex Manipulator. She punched in the coordinates for the van and opened the vortex there. She grabbed hold of the man's legs, and with Jack's help, carried him into the blinding light.


	21. Chapter 21

Holly had the car started and the back set out for triage by the time the rest hand arrived. Tanwyn and Jack hoisted the body onto the bed, and Tanwyn quickly checked his vitals.

"Pulse is apx. 20 bpm. Breathing is regular."

The tires squealed as Holly pulled onto the road. Hoping to distance them from what she assumed would be a hot pursuit.

Jack sat perfectly still. Shell shocked.

Tanwyn pulled some sort of scanner from her purse. She waved it over the body.

"Blood pressure is nominal. No internal organ displacement. Not cybernetic enhancement or alteration. No tracking device. "

Tanwyn swung herself off of the bed and pulled herself into the passenger seat.

"We're going to want to pull over soon. Jack and our guest have - "

Another bright flash. Tanwyn turned around. Jack and the body were gone."

Tanwyn sighed.

"History."


	22. Chapter 22

Jack Harness sat in an armchair in a motel room staring intently at the bed across the room.

He clutched a glass of whiskey in his hand. His attention fixed on the rise and fall of a chest that was never supposed to move again.

Ianto Jones laid unconscious.  
Jack couldn't believe that that was it.

Ten years ago the 456 had taken the breath from his body. Jack had laid Ianto to rest in a simple casket. He had returned each year to mourn his passing. To pay his respects.

Now, Jack wondered, swirling his liquor in his glass, how long had he been mourning at an empty grave.

Jack felt his heart in his throat as he watched one of Ianto's fingers twitch.

He downed his whiskey and stood from his chair. He walked closer to Ianto and knelt beside him.

Tentatively, as if reaching for a ghost, Jack brushed a curl from Ianto's face. His hair had gotten longer, since his death. Like the vampire folklore of a bygone time. He was free of stubble, having been shaved at some point. By someone.

Jack placed his fingers to Ianto's wrist. Just taking a moment to take in the pulse that was there. To feel how warm Ianto's skin was. How alive he looked.

Jack could see Ianto's eyes twitching beneath his eyelids.

A sign that at least he had some sort of brain activity. Something was alive in there.

Jack felt his stomach roll as alternate possibilities washed over him.

What if what was in there wasn't Ianto? What if he was some sort of host for an entity captured by UNIT. What if, like that clone of Tanwyn, his head had been filled with mechantations like a Cyberman?

Jack stood, Walked over to a wall, leaned against it.

What if it was him? And the last thing he remembers was Jack's face. Leaning over him. Telling him not to love him.

Jack staggered into the bathroom, he knelt over the porcelain bowl and dry heaved.

What if, when Ianto woke up, If he woke up, he hated him?

Jack heaved again, spitting out what little he had in him. He rolled over and leaned against the wall of the bathroom. The tile felt cool beneath his hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Whatever happens, he thought, I have to be prepared.

Jack stood and looked himself over in the mirror. The blood stained and tattered hoodie that he was wearing looked horrendous. He could see his skin through the hole in the center. His hair was wild. Blood was smeared on his face and chunks of bone and flesh were flecked throughout his hair.

His eyes were bloodshot and wild. It was obvious that he'd been crying.

Jack turned on the facet and ran his hands under the cool water. Rinsing the dried blood from them.

He splashed his face and hair, watching the pink water swirl down the drain. He peeled off his hoodie and undershirt, examining the fresh pink skin that now stood as a dot on his abdomen. Hardly twenty four hours ago he had criticised himself for getting soft. Now he looked too hard. Too cold.

Jack stepped out of his jeans and kicked them to the side opening the small closet in the bathroom and examining the clothing within.

He was grateful that he had set this room up for the weekend, and found a clean and pressed outfit prehung, along with another of his beloved RAF coats. He noticed that he was down to his last spare. A shame.

Once dressed, Jack stepped back into the room and took another deep breath.

Ianto Jones stood in the center of the room, Jack's pistol in his hand.

A mirthless chuckle escaped his lips as Jack entered the room.

"Really?"

Jack put up his hands.

"Ianto?"

Ianto relaxed his posture and glanced around the room. He kept the gun trained squarely on Jack.

"What is this eh? Some sort of VR simulation? Some kind of hologram scenario?"

Concern filled Jack's features.

"Ianto what are you-"

Ianto's head snapped to stare straight at Jack.

"Shut it." Ianto looked at the ceiling.

"Mathers? You son of a bitch. Are you listening to me? End this. He-" Ianto waved the gun at Jack. "Is off limits."

Jack took a tentative step towards Ianto.

"Ianto. No one else is here. It's just you and me."

Ianto scoffed.

"Cute. I'm supposed to believe that? Please."

Ianto turned the gun to himself. He once again addressed the roof.

"Okay Mathers. You know the drill. How long will this set your research back this time hmm? Six months? A Year?"

Ianto clicked the safety on the gun. Jack lunged forward.

Ianto shot Jack in the shoulder.

"Fuck!" Jack staggered as the bullet ripped through him.

Ianto froze. He stood there, staring at the blood pouring down Jack's shirt.

Jack caught Ianto's eye. He was horrified to see how glassy and unresponsive they looked.

Ianto stepped back. He dropped the gun.

"Ianto?"

Jack rushed forward. He reached out to Ianto.

Ianto braced himself against the foot of the bed.

"Jack?" His voice was small. Distant.

Jack grabbed Ianto's arm and pulled him to his chest.

Ianto was stiff. Shocked.

"Yan it's me. It's Jack. I'm here. You're okay. I've got you."

Jack couldn't get the words out fast enough.

Ianto was there. He was conscious. He was alive. So very alive. Jack buried his face in Ianto's hair. He felt hot tears stinging his eyes.

Ianto shakily brought a had up to Jack's side and gripped the fabric of his shirt.

Jack could feel Ianto shaking.

Ianto moved his hand up Jack's chest. Felt for the bullet hole. Felt that it was already closing up. He began to sob.

Jack sighed. He felt Ianto melt into him. He felt the warmth of his tears soaking through his shirt. He didn't care.

"It's okay Ianto. You're safe now. You're with me. I'm here."

Jack tightened his grip on Ianto.

"I'm here."


	23. Chapter 23

Ianto woke up to an empty Motel room. He scanned the room for any sign that what he had experienced yesterday had been real. He saw the blood spatter on the bathroom door. The bullet lodged in the door.

He slipped out of bed and looked down at himself. He was still nude. The scars from the surgeries and injuries he had incurred over the past few years evident against his pale skin.

He let out a shaky breath.

Ianto walked to the bathroom and kept his head down, avoiding his visage in the mirror. He ran the tap and marveled at the feeling of the warm water against his skin. He splashed his face, running his hands over the fresh stubble there. He scratched. Was pleased to feel the sting of it.

Tentatively, he looked up.

Ianto gasped.

His usually pale skin was translucent, his curls long and unruly. He ran his hand down his chest and paused at each fresh scar.

Ports and wounds from tests and experiments. He shuddered at the memories of how they'd been inflicted.

What struck him the most was how wild his eyes looked. He resembled an animal. Crazy.

Ianto hung his head.

The door to the motel room cracked open.

Ianto spun around and readied himself for a fight. Jack slipped into the room, arms laden with bags.

Ianto stood straight up. Stiff. Jack sat the bags down on the bed.

"Ianto?"

Ianto cleared his throat.

Jack spun around.

"Ianto! Are you okay?"

Ianto nodded, curt.

"Okay. I got you some clothes." Jack pulled a bag out of the pile and carefully handed it to Ianto. Ianto snatched it out of Jack's hand.

"I know it's not what you would have worn, you know, but I thought you might want some more comfort right now than style."

Ianto pulled out the plain black T and dark wash jeans from the bag. He saw the boxer brief package and a rolled pair of socks. Silently, he began to get dressed

"I also grabbed you some trainers and a coat. It's a bit of a chilly morning."

Jack pulled the jacket and shoes out of their bag and laid them on the bed.

"There's some food here too. I don't know how long it's been since you ate. I don't know-" Jack trailed off. Ianto pulled the shirt over his chest and smoothed it down. He turned to Jack.

"How long have I been gone?"

Jack looked at the floor.

"Ianto are you-"

Ianto stepped right up to Jack. He forced Jack's head up with his hand.

"How Long."

"Ten years. You've been dead for ten years."

Ianto stepped back.

"Ten?"

"Yes. "

Ianto fell silent. He walked over to the clock on the nightstand picked it up, stared at it.

Jack quietly gathered the rest of the bags, setting out the takeout on the table. Putting a bottle of water by the bed.

He turned the TV on low and flipped channels until he landed on an old episode of Coronation Street. It was inane, safe, timeless.

Jack watched Ianto from the corner of his eye. Tried to gauge where the man was. How badly he had been damaged.

Ianto was frozen. He knew it had been a long time, had anticipated three, maybe five years. But then was an eternity. An eternity he had spent alone. Suffering under the ministrations of UNIT.

He felt bile rise in his throat. Tears sting his eyes.

His niece and nephew were more than teenagers. The eldest would be in college now. Eighteen. He sister would have turned forty the year before. Milestones lost.

After several minutes, Ianto sat the clock down. He wiped the tears from his eyes and turned back to the room.

Jack sat on the foot of the bed, watching TV.

Ianto felt a strong, burning rage in his core.

Jack.

Jack had done this to him.

Jack had kept him alive, somehow. Out of selfishness or carelessness one. He had forgotten about Ianto. Left him to rot.

The last words he had spoken to Jack before his first death, thrown back into his face. Rejected.

Ianto quietly picked the clock back up. Tested its weight. gripped it tightly. He quietly walked up to Jack and, with as much force as he could muster, smashed Jack's head with the clock.

Jack fell to the floor, uncouse. Ianto ruffled through Jack's coat. Took his wallet. His gun. He grabbed up the coat Jack had bought and put on the shoes he had been given.

Ianto Jones, Reborn, walked out of the motel alone.


End file.
